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Sorry, Chris Redfield, but Leon S. Kennedy is still Resident Evil’s best protagonist. | Image: Capcom The Silent Hill 2 remake just came out for those looking for a nostalgic scare, but if you’re in need of heebie-jeebies on a budget, the Resident Evil 4 remake is just as capable. It’s down to $21.99 ($8 off) at Amazon for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen for a physical copy, and it’s just in time for Halloween and to reminisce about 2004 with us. [/url] Resident Evil 4 stars series favorite Leon Kennedy, who’s been tasked with infiltrating a cultish compound in Spain to rescue the president’s daughter, one Ashley Graham. It quickly becomes apparent that the cannibalistic desires of the townsfolk aren’t due to sheer psychosis and viral mutation alone. The RE4 remake is very faithful to the original... Continue reading… View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Netflix might be controlling its spending a little bit now, but is also still looking to put out gigantic blockbusters that rarely hit the big screen. Up next, we have the Russo Brothers' The Electric State, an adaptation of Simon Stålenhag's 2018 illustrated novel of the same name. Read more View the full article

The Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 community is up in arms over sweeping nerfs made by the latest patch — so much so that some players are review ******** the game on Steam. Update 4.0, which kicks off Space Marine 2 Season 2 with a new PvE map, Tyranid ******, and Lethal difficulty, also changes the game balance in significant ways to make Operations mode *******. Here’s the relevant section from the Update 4.0 patch notes: Melee Archetypes: Fencing weapons' perfect parry window will now have the same duration as balanced weapons but it will start from the first frame of parry animation. Melee Perks: Chainsword, Power Fist, Combat ****** charged attacks perks get significant damage increase. Basic Auspex Scan: bonus damage on bosses is reduced by 30%. Melta Charge: damage to bosses is reduced by 70%. ​****** Spawn Director PvE: Tweaked idle spawns.****** variety within waves is now less random while ****** variety between waves is *******.Extremis enemies can now spawn with additional enemies. Difficulty: Ruthless: Ammo crates have limited refills per player.Ruthless: Player's armour reduced by 20%.Substantial: Player's armour reduced by 10% It’s worth highlighting the change to fencing weapons’ perfect parry window (Space Marine 2 combat is all about well-timed perfect parries, indeed they’re essential for success on the ******* PvE difficulties because they let you follow up with a high damage shot from your *******). Fencing weapons were by far the most popular ******* type in the game due to their more generous perfect parry window compared to the balance ******* type (block weapons can't perfect parry). But Update 4.0 limits fencing weapons' active parry frames to the first half of the parry animation (frames 1-10), whereas pre-patch it covered the entirety of the animation. This means fencing weapons now revolve around parrying at the last moment; indeed it may be the case that the developers wish for fencing weapons to lean on last moment parries. In contrast, balance weapons parry frames 11-20, and so require players predict a parry in advance. There are trade-offs here when you get down to the stats, but the perception of this change right now is currently a negative one, given it halves the active parry frames of all fencing weapons. Then there’s the significant nerf to the basic Auspex Scan, which was a popular, some say essential method of doing bonus damage on enemies and bosses (some of the Operations mode bosses are incredibly tough, especially on ******* difficulties). The change to the Melta Charge has also sparked a backlash. This one-hit high damage piece of equipment (you can only carry one at a time) was often used against bosses to give Space Marines a fighting chance on higher difficulties. Now, players say, they’re next to useless. And then there are the changes made to the ruthless and substantial difficulties, which make Operations mode a lot ******* for everyone chasing rewards tied to those tiers. Even on the new Lethal difficulty, which is designed to be brutally hard, players have complained about its exclusive mechanic that only restores armor from finishers if you stay close to your teammates (restoring armor through finishers is essential to survival in Space Marine 2). Anyone who has played Space Marine 2’s Operations mode will know it’s not easy to stick together, especially when playing with randoms. Some of the more raid-style mechanics in the Operations require player coordination while Space Marines do their thing in different spots on the map. Players are now reporting that the radius players must be within to restore armor is tiny. This change, then, feels like a particularly harsh kick in the teeth. The backlash has been aggressive and swift. The official Space Marine 2 discord is packed with complaints, as is the Space Marine subreddit. “STOP THE NERF GIVE US FUN,” declared Wyndolll. “Haven't you learned from Helldivers 2 experience? Nerf player = negative reaction.” “‘Thanks for the nerfs in my PvE powerfantasy game,’ said no one ever,” said a clearly disgruntled Aspharr. “What’s with all the ********* nerfs,” added Old_Competition8765. “Extremely disappointing to see this game going the way of Helldivers. Hope they do proper balancing and not this lazy nerf *****.” The mention of Helldivers 2 is of course a reference to the backlash Arrowhead suffered from doing pretty much what Saber Interactive has done here: nerf the game at a time when players were hoping for buffs. Arrowhead spent a great deal of time, energy, and resources getting its playerbase back on-side, culminating with a recent update that rebalanced the entire game. Will Space Marine 2 end up stumbling down the same path? There are early signs players may review ***** the game to voice their displeasure. On Steam, Space Marine 2's recent user review rating ******** ‘very positive,’ but at the time of this article’s publication, 181 new negative reviews were left so far today, October 17. That number, many more than is usual for a single day, seems likely to grow. For Focus and Saber’s part, in today’s Patch 4 notes they admitted the changes would make Operations mode ******* and promised to keep an eye on feedback. The developers made the changes, they said, because they felt Operations mode was too easy, especially after the release of Patch 3. “This is not the last change,” they promised. Here’s the statement: "With Patch 3 we have noticed that Operations mode became noticeably easier, especially Chaos operations. We are happier with what we have right now compared to what we had on release, because before Patch 3 Chaos missions were unpopular. Still, we think that currently Operations mode is a bit too easy. "Overall these changes are going to make Operations mode *******, but it is difficult to measure by how much. We will continue to monitor those changes and will continue to adjust the balance of Operations mode. This is not the last change." Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Hazelight Studios has announced that its excellent co-operative adventure game and IGN 2021 game of the year nominee, It Takes Two, has sold over 20 million copies. #ItTakesTwo HAS SOLD OVER 20 MILLION!!! You’re the best fans in the world, how you have embraced our game is blowing our minds! We’re so grateful to every one of the millions upon millions who have enjoyed their time with Cody and May [Hidden Content] — Hazelight Studios (@HazelightGames) October 16, 2024 This milestone comes three and a half years after the couch co-op game's launch on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, with a Switch release following in November 2022. It Takes Two sold over one million units in the month following its launch, and its numbers have climbed steadily since. At last count in March of this year, it had reached 16 million units, a testimony to positive word-of-mouth and effusive critical praise helping the game continue to do well even years after release. And it helps that the game's been on ***** numerous times since launch - it's just $9.99 (down from $39.99) on the PlayStation Store at the time of publication. It Takes Two was showered with accolades on launch, earning a 9/10 review score from us where we called it "a spectacular co-op adventure that lays down a path of great gameplay ideas and uses it to play a giddy game of hopscotch." It's since settled at an 88 metascore on Metacritic and an 8.9 user score, and it won Game of the Year, Best Family Game, and Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards 2021. It also took home a Golden Joystick for Best Multiplayer Game, a GDC Award for Best Design, Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Game Design at the DICE Awards, and a BAFTA for Multiplayer Game and Original Property. A film adaptation is currently in the works at Amazon Studios, with Dawyne "The Rock" Johnson producing. Meanwhile, developer Hazelight Studios, headed up by Josef Fares, has been relatively quiet since It Takes Two's release. The studio's first game, A Way Out, came out roughly three years before It Takes Two, leading to hopes that we may be due for another announcement from the devoted cooperative game studio any day now. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article

Rare Lithographs allow you to craft Rare items in Throne and Liberty. Depending on what you need, it might be an opportunity for you to craft that missing piece of the build or make some Lucent at the Auction House. Here’s everything you need to know about Rare Lithographs and Rare Blank Lithographs in Throne and Liberty. View the full article

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has added MechWarrior 5: Clans and one returning title to its content library. This library expansion brings the total number of 2024 Xbox Game Pass releases to 120. View the full article

With the launch of Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 fast approaching, Activision has revealed even more details on the upcoming shooter and confirmed the return of the ******* range. This fan-favorite feature allows players to test out their weapons before jumping into a game and has featured in various other Call of Duty titles stemming back to 2014's Advanced Warfare, but will now be returning with a few improvements in Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6. View the full article

Miami, Florida, October 17th, 2024, GamingWire Valhalla, Floki’s revolutionary blockchain-based Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), has proudly announced a new partnership with Hafthor Júlíus Björnsson, the world-renowned strongman and actor famous for his role as “The Mountain” in Game of Thrones. Hafthor is joining Valhalla as its official ambassador, marking the beginning of an […] Source View the full article

Astarion is one of Baldur’s Gate 3’s most useful and versatile companions. There are plenty of ways this High Elf vampire can help a team, and choosing the best feats possible for Astarion is essential for maximizing his potential. While multiclass builds are an option, Astarion is a Rogue which means we’ll only go over the best feats for this specific class build. Changing his class or multiclassing completely alters what the best feats are for him since it fundamentally changes how he functions, so it’s best to leave him as a standard Rogue when choosing these feats. Here are all of the best feats for Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3. View the full article

Someone playing the new Vessel of Hatred DLC for Diablo 4 discovered a massive issue with the multiplayer aspect of The Dark Citadel raid, in which they seemingly couldn't access couch co-op mode. Released in June 2023 and developed by Blizzard Entertainment, Diablo 4 is the fourth main installment in the role-playing, dungeon-crawling series. View the full article

Ever been in a position where two people are really going at each other, hurling pointed jabs and insults back and forth, and you're stuck in the middle? Well then, perhaps you'll empathise with the enemies in Archons, a twin-stick Vampire Survivors-like where you control two characters at once, and attacks bounce between them automatically as they move about the arena. I gave the Steam Next Fest demo a quick whirl today, and after a couple of swift attempts (I ***** horribly fast), I realised this could become a bit of a danger to my free time, so I've put it away for now. Read more View the full article

Xbox Game Pass delivers some of the best gaming experiences, all under one subscription. With hundreds of games available for subscribers to access, there's always something there for players to dig into. From cozy farming sims to open-world titles, there's something for everyone's preferences. View the full article

Nepos Games are the two-person studio behind Nebuchadnezzar, which Nate Crowley called "two thirds of an outstanding historical city builder". They've just informed me they're making a new building sim called County Of Fortune, out in Q4 2025. It ain't a city builder, though. In fact, it claims to have murdered the city builder in cold blood, which is unfortunate, because I was really looking forward to a round of Manor Lords later. "The city-builder is *****, long live the county-builder," declares the press release, brandishing the husk of SimCity over its head. OK, I'll ***** - what's a county-builder then? Well, it's sort of several city-builders having an argument. In County Of Fortune, you seed and grow a number of settlements side by side, then manage their economic and social relations. In other words, it's a game that appears to simulate the phenomenon of culture clash. I'm not sure all this amounts to the wholesale ****** of a genre, but it's certainly intriguing. Here's the Steam page, and here's a trailer. Read more View the full article

It only took 10 minutes of playing Unknown 9: Awakening for me to feel a keen sense of deja vu. Taking out enemies in small arenas, watching an emotional story of personal growth, and squeezing between plenty of tight cracks in walls – it’s a formula that feels all too familiar, sticking to the well-established traditions of the "Crevice Crawler" genre. It does try out one or two unique ideas to set itself apart, like mind-control powers that let you play puppet master with your enemies, but the problem is that it executes on the fundamentals significantly worse than its contemporaries. There are certainly glimmers of hope within that new stuff, but any novelty quickly wears off, resulting in a generic and underwhelming slog full of performance issues and other jankiness to boot. Set in an alternate-reality version of the early 20th century, you play as Haroona, a distrustful woman who loves spouting trite platitudes that has been imbued with the power to tap into an unseen dimension called the Fold. Her powers let you do typical magic stuff like go invisible for a brief ******* of time, Force push and pull baddies around like an off-brand Jedi, and enter a ghost form so you can walk around and solve the easiest puzzles ever conceived. You'll use them to worm your way through a series of small arenas separated by cutscenes clearly pining to be the next HBO adaptation – if you’ve played The Last of Us or **** of War then you already get the idea, but instead of finely-tuned combat encounters and nail-biting stealth sections, Awakening offers sloppy fisticuffs and barebones crouch-fests. Despite the extremely generic setup, the worldbuilding here is actually not half bad, and there’s clearly been a lot of time and effort put into establishing this universe’s timeline, lore, and supernatural rules. Like a knock-off Indiana Jones, this alternate version of Earth is home to mystical secrets and hidden histories kept just out of reach in parts unknown, including a mysterious cycle of extinction, a race of beings who cheated ****** by making themselves immortal, and secret societies vying for paranormal knowledge. Unfortunately, that promising foundation doesn’t do the story itself much good, as Haroona’s predictable tale is full of cliches and unremarkable characters, eventually getting horribly lost in a sea of magical jargon and convoluted references that completely whiffed on any attempt to make me care about what was happening. Haroona’s predictable tale is full of cliches and unremarkable characters, eventually getting horribly lost in a sea of magical jargon. A lot of that wonky journey will provide opportunities for sneaking about to dispatch enemies discreetly, but the stealth is extremely run of the mill and offers few innovations. You’ve got a ghostly rock you can throw to distract people and you will, of course, spend plenty of time hanging out in tall grass where no guardsman has ever thought to look. Unfortunately, the hopelessly ***** AI has a hard time detecting you even when you’re making things explode and leaving bodies in plain view. Still, there’s some small enjoyment to be had in the subpar stealth, as feeling like a master of the shadows who can clear an entire area without being spotted is still rewarding to pull off. Plus, your companions will sometimes comment on how sneaky you are if you can get through a section without being caught – that’s a nice touch. Sadly, you’ll have fewer opportunities to engage with stealth than you might think, as Awakening railroads you into outright combat frequently and with great relish. This weirdly seems to happen more and more as you get deeper into the roughly eight-hour story, which wouldn't be as much of a problem if it weren't for the false choices it sets up in its skill trees. This simple three-pronged upgrade system makes you better at combat, stealth, or mind control abilities as you collect barely hidden “Gnosis Points,” and does basic things like allow you to remain invisible for longer or make your melee attacks do more damage. After spending the vast majority of my skill points on the stealth abilities tree only to see those encounters dry up, I began to wonder if I’d wasted my efforts and started hedging my bets by investing in other playstyles. Combat is easily one of the things Awakening does worst. It’s really unfortunate that you’ll find yourself in more straightforward combat as you go, too, because it’s easily one of the things Awakening does worst. These wimpy encounters pit you against the same handful of ****** soldiers who wield guns and melee weapons, and they mostly amount to the typical dodging, light attacks, and heavy attacks recipe you’ll have seen in dozens of games before, only less polished. I played my entire run on the hardest difficulty and the AI is so ******* that the vast majority of the time I was able to fudge my way through battles by spamming the same set of attacks and effortlessly moving out of the way of highly telegraphed moves. Whether you’re squatting behind crates or punching ***** minions, at least you’ll be able to enjoy Awakening’s best feature: mind-control powers. You can leap out of your body and into others with the press of a button, then use those dim meat puppets to carry out your twisted designs, including activating that unit’s special ability to wreak havoc on the environment or their fellow villains. For example, you can possess one of the big bruisers and use his ground pound ability near a cluster of his friends to deal a ton of damage, or you can take over one of the ******* enemies and have him ****** at a piece of surveillance equipment to make your stealth job easier. As you progress, you’ll eventually be able to chain-possess multiple enemies in a row, instructing them to perform various misdeeds, then watch it all play out in slow motion, which can be a lot of fun. It’s not exactly revolutionary stuff and starts to grow a bit tiresome by the time you reach credits, but it’s definitely the most entertaining part of an otherwise disappointing adventure. Also, quite hysterically, if you start making your foes ***** each other while remaining hidden nearby, they seem only vaguely aware that you’re messing with them and quickly go back to what they were doing – because, again, they are so very *******. That's definitely not a good thing, but it did at least ****** me up with regularity. If sloppy encounters and a weak story aren’t discouraging enough, Awakening also suffers from various performance issues, bugs, and general jankiness throughout. The framerate dipped on a regular basis while I was playing on a Ryzen 9/RTX 4090 PC, including during combat in moments that might get you *******. Haroona likes to get stuck on objects and bounce in place bizarrely, and cutscenes do this really weird thing where they jump abruptly between a bunch of shots that only last a couple seconds each, like they storyboarded the scene but never bothered finishing it. That last one is mostly kind of funny, but it also adds to a general lack of polish that makes an already subpar game feel even more feeble. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

The newer in-development open source and cross-platform Nexus Mods app just expanded, and it's sounding awesome. Much easier modding is coming for Linux and Steam Deck. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Unlocking Jack Skellington in Disney Dreamlight Valley isn't as straightforward as a lot of the other characters you'll meet during your time in the valley. Unlike characters like Simba, Moana, and Woody, Jack Skellington doesn't have his own realm to visit. Because of this, you'll need to do a little more work toward getting him invited... Read more.View the full article

The fusions, transformations, and heightened powers of character in Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero can make it hard to tell which fighters are the strongest in the game's massive roster. Although many warriors have extremely powerful techniques, it can be tricky to determine if one is "better" than another. However, there are a few fighters that stand out as pinnacles of strength that defy any imposed limits. View the full article

Baldur's Gate 3 was a welcome reminder of just how special the best RPGs can be; that freedom to create and customize your squad, making meaningful choices that dramatically affect major and minor aspects of your characters' lives and the world around them. The magical steampunk world of New Arc Line is the next setting I'm eager to explore and impact. Developer Dreamate has built a bustling universe combining BioShock style steampunk with the classic fantasy of Dungeons and Dragons, and you can get a proper taste for yourself right now thanks to a free demo for Steam Next Fest. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New Arc Line is almost the steampunk Baldur's Gate 3 of my dreams Gorgeous tactical RPG New Arc Line blends Baldur's Gate 3 and Bioshock Fallout and Frostpunk inspire gorgeous new isometric RPG on Steam View the full article

Learning how to make birthday cake in Disney Dreamlight Valley is a valuable skill for anyone desperate to make some extra cash. It's a pretty high-value recipe, and most of its ingredients can be farmed or foraged pretty soon into the game. If you've already unlocked Remy's restaurant and have access to his pantry, you can bake your own cake in no time. It's also a great recipe to have on hand in case one of your villagers has a birthday cake as one of their favorite gifts... Read more.View the full article

The release of Unknown 9: Awakening promises to launch a transmedia event in a new sci-fi/fantasy world. While its nice to find a risky new IP among the glut of remakes, Reflector Entertainment and publisher Bandai Namcos third-person action-adventure game is a hasty patchwork of ideas that never adhere, further troubled by stuttery performance and imprecise action. Aspects of the project do prove effective the voice acting is generally strong throughout, and the possession mechanics are interesting in theory but Unknown 9: Awakening's best ideas never clear the landing. View the full article

Hades 2 developer Supergiant Games has shadow-dropped the roguelite's first major content update. The Olympic Update brings a colossal list of additions for Hades 2 players to enjoy, such as a new region, items, characters, and changes to existing content. View the full article

Blizzard has continued to lean into seasons in Overwatch 2 as a method of evolution to keep the game feeling fresh. Over six years, the original Overwatch enjoyed 35 competitive seasons, from season one in 2016 to season 35 in 2022. As of 2024, Overwatch 2 is in its 13th season. Seasons last roughly two months and add new heroes, maps, and more to the game. View the full article

Every Thursday we share the weekly Famitsu sales charts, which tracks physical boxed game sales and hardware sales in Japan. ... Read more View the full article

As Venom: The Last Dance nears its October 25 release date, fans are starting to wonder what's up with Knull as the main villain and whether this iteration of Eddie Brock and the symbiote will ever cross paths with Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Tom Hardy is playing coy but forward. Read more View the full article

Samsung has just announced a new GDDR7 memory chip that could make the rumored 24GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 a reality. The company's new 24Gb DRAM gives you 3GB on a single chip, rather than the usual 2GB, meaning a graphics card could accommodate 50 percent more memory without needing a new layout, or indeed a wider memory bus. One prime candidate for this new memory is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, which is rumored to be coming with 16GB of VRAM in its first guise, but with a 24GB RTX 5080 coming later. However, unlike the originally-mooted RTX 4080 12GB and 16GB, this 24GB card is rumored to have the same core spec as the 16GB RTX 5080, just with more memory, and this new Samsung chip would make that possible. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 guide: Everything we know about the new gaming GPU Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 and 5060 could launch sooner than expected, says ***** This new Nvidia GeForce Now update stops game streaming crashes on Shield View the full article